John Kiesewetter: Media Beat

John Kiesewetter by Jim Borgman

For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media – comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more.

Local media is still his beat and he’s bringing his interest, curiosity, contacts and unique style to Cincinnati Public Radio and 91.7 WVXU.

All-Star Game specials, Reds retrospectives, repeats of the 1975 World Series, a two-hour Pete Rose interview and a nightly “All-Star Live” show will fill Fox Sports Ohio July 6-16.

“All-Star Live” debuts at 6 p.m. Monday on FSO, prior to the “Reds Live” pregame show. Starting Thursday, “All-Star Live” and the “Reds Live” pregame and postgame shows will be telecast from Major League Baseball’s FanFest at the Duke Energy Center downtown.

Other highlights include five “Spotlight” shows on Reds history; a replay of the 1988 All-Star Game from Riverfront Stadium; a 30-minute film about the 1970 All-Star Game at Riverfront; highlight films from the 1990, 1975 and 1976 World Series; and four entire games from the Big Red Machine’s 1975 World Series victory over the Boston Red Sox. The details:

July 4th isn’t the same for some of us without Erich Kunzel on PBS’ “A Capitol Fourth.” Kunzel conducted the National Symphony Orchestra July 4th and Memorial Day concerts for nearly 20 years, until his death in 2009 at age 74.

Thanks to CET, Kunzel returns to TV on July 4, with two repeats of “Erich Kunzel: A Cincinnati Legacy,” a half-hour local special which premiered on July 4, 2010.

WLWT-TV in second place for news at 11 p.m.? WCPO-TV tied with longtime news leader WKRC-TV at 6 p.m.? Will these May household rating trends continue in July sweeps starting today?

Sure, the four week July Nielsen ratings (today through July 29) are the least important of the sweeps months. But TV managers and advertisers will be watching closely to see if our viewing habits continue the shift revealed in May.

Before the July ratings sweeps start tomorrow, here’s an update on the changes at TV stations since the first of the year:

WKRC-TV: The biggest news by far is that Channel 12, first in the news ratings for years, is changing news directors. Kirk Varner’s last day is Friday. I can’t remember a TV station letting the news director go during a sweeps month.

For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter was THE source for information about the local media, keeping audiences informed about the people and projects involved in the entertainment industry through his column and blog for The Cincinnati Enquirer.